Gaming-related events and openings are being pushed back or canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Some parks that planned to open this year, such as the Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan, had to push back its opening with no clear release date. While some gamers would want to devote this time indoors to gaming, some games are being delayed because of development issues.
Companies are working hard to bring these events to gamers in a different way. Many events are headed online in a completely virtual experience. The change may be for the best, as some who may have never experienced these events in person can now watch a livestream.
Pokémon has decided to host a virtual theme park with various events, activities, and attractions that fans will get to experience together called the Pokémon Virtual Fest. The theme of the park is to make unforgettable Summer memories.
While the event will take place in Japan and held only in the Japanese language, players around the world can likely check out the event if they have the Cluster app. The app is available in English, but the Pokémon Virtual Fest will be in Japanese.
As soon as players enter the event, Pokémon Virtual Fest will give players a virtual avatar, and they can purchase various clothing to dress-up. There are booths set up to buy customization parts and then take photos wearing the new items.
Pokémon Virtual Fest will have an Event Space set up where participants can watch videos of Pokémon Sword and Shield or other Pokémon-related content throughout the festival.
The event also has separate spaces for attractions and mini-games. They all have names related to locations and creatures from the game. Players can hop aboard the Ferris Wheel to get a broad view of the park, travel on the Sky Ocean Cruise, or hop on a train ride. The mini-games include activities one would normally see at a fairground like a shooting range and ring toss.
Missions can be completed with a friend or one of the other park visitors. The games were created by SCRAP, which is a Japanese company that designs many escape room events in the country. Trainers will have to work together to solve puzzles and codes to escape the room.
After completing these missions, more activities in the park will be unlocked for everyone attending. The mission statuses can be checked in the middle of the park entrance.
The last two days of the events will have a Pikachu dance show, where a large group of the Pokémon will dance on the event square. A fireworks show will also be held at the end.
Pokémon Virtual Fest takes place from August 12-31 in the Cluster app.
